


To Skin A Wolf

by Avasti



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Anders to the rescue, Castration, Danarius (Dragon Age) Being an Asshole, Dismemberment, Fenris got skinned alive yo, Happy Ending, Hawke and Fenris broke up, Healer Anders (Dragon Age), I'm a horrible person, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mild Gore, Recovery, Torture, fast recovery, second chapter is short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:49:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21978355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avasti/pseuds/Avasti
Summary: Fenris is caught by Danarius and tldr gets skinned alive. Almost dies, but Hawke and friends come and save the day! Plus Anders has mad healing skills.
Relationships: Fenris/Male Hawke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First torture fic, It's not super super gory, but still enough that I want you to be warned. (Fenris is briefly castrated)... I've never been skinned alive, but I researched it. Any advice is welcome!! Thankies

Fenris was walking back to his mansion. Their mission had gone long over the time limit Hawke agreed on and his haggling lengthened it further. The sun was starting to rise, warming the tops of the buildings and causing wet steam to rise off the roofing tiles. Fenris looked skyward to admire the steam rising off his old master’s mansion as he walked in. 

He froze in the doorway, something was off. The sharp fizz of magic was strong in the old house. So strong it sent harsh spikes through his lyrium tattoos. He pulled his sword from its place at his back and stepped in. Whatever was here he could easily handle. Leave another pile of corpses waiting for his master’s return.

As he got closer to the source of the magic, his body seized with pain. A spell he had experienced only in Tevinter brought him to his knees, pulling a choked cry of pain from him. As the pain ceased, he glared up at the foul Magister walking down the steps towards him.

“My little wolf. So defiant. I heard that you bedded a new mage master. It seems your lust for the powerful and superior still rages inside you.” He reached his hand out and roved his fingers through the elf’s white locks, “You were such a spectacular pet. Now I get to have fun training you again.” He roughly pulled on Fenris’ hair, “Stand and walk. If you run from me I’ll cut off your feet and make you crawl.”

Jaw clenched as the debilitating shocks lessened, Fenris stood. Danarius kicked the elf’s weapon of choice away and fastened a collar around his slim neck. “We are travelling by ship, my wolf. You will be punished most completely.”

Flanked by three other mages, Danarius led Fenris out of the city to a waiting ship. It looked like a ship that Isabela would preen over, caressing and fondling the polished banisters and seducing the captains wheel. Fenris almost smiled at the image, but returned his eyes to the back of Danarius’ robes. 

The magister stopped in front of him suddenly and snarled. Fenris looked around the man to find the ship entirely empty and the man who was probably meant to be the Captain shot through the chest with a familiar crossbow bolt. Fenris’ heart beat itself into his throat but he swallowed the hope that threatened to overwhelm him.

Danarius turned to face the rest of them, looking through Fenris to the mages, “Search the ship and find a new captain.” He turned cold eyes to Fenris, “Follow.”

The magister led Fenris to a room on the lower deck and shackled him to the bed. Fenris snarled at the old man’s hands and attempted to bite him, only to be rewarded with a pulse of the debilitating spell and a harsh slap to his face. The magister left Fenris writhing on the silken sheets, casting the spell to continue until his return.

He walked back on deck and looked at the new crew lined up. They seemed strong enough, five humans and a dwarf. He scowled, “Let’s be on our way.” and walked to his mages as the strange crew got to work. A female human taking the captain’s position and the rest bumbling about the deck.

The ship took off from it’s docked position and Danarius walked back down to his room. Fenris was crumpled on the floor, panting and sweating as his body twitched. Danarius snapped his fingers and the pain subsided.

“Am I not a benevolent master, Fenris?”

Fenris looked up at him with fresh rage in his poisonous green eyes and spat, “Go fuck yourself.”

The Magister snarled and wrenched him up by his hair, “Have it your way.” he released the chains attached to the bedpost and dragged the struggling warrior to a separate room and threw him against a steel table in the center of the room. Danarius reached out and squeezed Fenris’ thin neck, absorbing Lyrium through the contact while also pouring painful magic back into him. Fenris fought his body's natural reaction to writhe away for a while, eventually giving in to the excruciating pain and screaming, collapsing to the ground, body twitching and muscles unwilling to function. Two men walked in, one pulled Fenris into a standing position, allowing the other to remove his armor and underclothes. Left entirely naked, the men strapped him to the cold steel table.

Danarius moved to stand at Fenris’ feet, gently resting a hand on the elf’s ankle. Fenris watched the two other men walk around the room, gathering small buckets and wicked sharp blades. The blades were set on a small metal tray next to the table and the buckets were placed under the table, where strange holes were drilled. Fenris swallowed hard and shivered as Danarius ran his hand up the length of his leg.

“My little wolf. You never feared my blade before this, so why do you shake now?”

Without letting Fenris respond, the man nodded at the mage to Fenris’ left. The man reached out and grasped Fenris’ cock and balls with one hand and with the other he grabbed a knife. With one confident slash, he separated the appendage from Fenris’ body. Fenris screamed, he could feel the blood pouring from his body. The pain wasn’t focused, but rather blinding and everywhere. 

He might’ve passed out, as he had opened his eyes to find his throat raw and sore and the pain now simply throbbing. He looked at the fuzzy outline of Danarius at his feet, and could barely hear them speaking to each other. The man with the blade noticed him awake and grinned at him, an evil sadistic glint in his eye as he brought the blade to Fenris’ neck.

He cut a clean line around his throat, just through the skin, like a glittering red necklace. He moved to cut around both Fenris’ wrists, then the same to his shoulders and under his armpits, around his ankles and finally his upper thighs. Then from the hollow of his throat, he cut a clean thin line down Fenris’ chest, stopping at his crotch. The blood slowly seeped from the wound, painting hot red lines across his chest and gathering on the table beneath him. Fenris attempted to struggle but Danarius flexed his hand and immediately stilled the elf. The man with the blade slid the knife carefully under Fenris’ skin, separating the flesh from muscle. Fenris opened his mouth to scream, but no sound escaped. The pain was immeasurable, akin to being burned alive by dragon fire, like scrubbing his skin bloody with a steel wool sponge. Hot tears spilled from his eyes, and he hissed curses at the mages around him, forgetting the pain in his throat. 

As the skin pulled away from his body, he could feel his nerve endings firing off a cacophony of messages straight to his brain. A massive surge of pain and a euphoric feeling jostled his mind. As if one of Ander’s spells was gently soothing his pain. The more his muscles were revealed, the less cognitive he became. Despite Danarius’ best efforts, Fenris finally blacked out into sweet nothingness.

…

Hawke searched for Varric, surely the man had seen where Danarius was holding Fenris. Anders ran into view, paler than usual and turned to face Hawke,

“Hawke! They have him in the hull.” 

Hawke growled and grabbed his staff and led Varric and Anders into the hull. They heard the scream, muffled by either magic or distance, and broke into a run, trying every door as they passed. Anders found the door and yelled for Varric, moving to the side as the Dwarf ran over and expertly picked the lock. Hawke ran around the corner as the door was thrown open, blindly sending his spells at the men surrounding the bleeding Elf on the table. Anders cast a binding spell on Danarius and Varric imbedded crossbow bolts into both mages chests. The battle felt as if it had gone on for hours, but the sun had barely moved from its position in the small window. Anders ran to Fenris’ side, immediately casting a blanket healing spell over the thin man before him. Hawke made a short choked sound and looked to the healer.

“Anders, his… How do I…?”

Anders briefly looked up and winced, “Just pick it up, Hawke, give it to me. Tell Isabela to dock us. Leave me to work and get that bastard out of here before the spell wears off…”

Hawke hurriedly handed off the appendage and hefted the magister over his shoulder. Above deck, he dropped his charge carelessly, allowing Sebastian and Carver to bind the man, and went to Isabela. She looked at him and offered a smile, already turning the ship around.

“Everything okay, handsome?”

“I hope so. Anders is with him now.”

“Can’t you heal too, Hawke?”

“Yes, but not as well as Anders. For the damage… Fenris needs a lot of help.”

...

Anders felt himself sweating through his undershirt, already having discarded his coat. Justice was confused, angry at Anders for working so hard to help Fenris, but absolutely enraged at the injustice performed. Fenris had been hurt by mages. By magic. He was forced to see things from a different perspective, not able to find himself begrudging Fenris his fear and anger towards magic. His hands shook from exertion as he slowly mended flesh back to muscle. He stopped the bleeding before moving to reattach his lost extremity. Brow furrowing in concentration, he was granted sharper sight by Justice, mending delicate nerves and muscles back together. As he sealed the skin and lowered his hands to rest momentarily. He stood and carefully lifted Fenris into his arms, surprised at his weight. Despite being slight, he was dense and thus he was heavy. With help from Justice, he was able to move Fenris into one of the bedrooms.

Anders seated himself by the bed on a small ottoman and resumed his work, stitching the skin together and ensuring there was no nerve damage. He was leaning over Fenris’ chest, focusing entirely too strongly on his task, when Fenris woke. Anders didn’t notice his charge was awake until he shifted, startling the mage back onto his seat. 

Fenris’ voice was just a whisper, “What happened?”

Anders opened and closed his mouth a few times before he found his words, “Danarius… He tried to take your skin.”

Fenris shuddered and gingerly adjusted his position on the bed, propping his head up to look at the mage. When their eyes met, Anders could see pure terror and felt the overwhelming urge to protect him,

“Fenris, I won’t hurt you. I know you don’t trust mages… or magic, but-”

Fenris interrupted, “Your magic has healed me. Despite what I’ve said… I trust you.”

It took only a few moments for Anders to recover from his shock, turning on his typical obnoxious cheer, “Well, Isabela told me a bit about ships a few days ago. Mind you, she was far into her cups, so I couldn’t understand everything but it was enlightening. She compared me to a ship’s captain. Captains are meant to care for their ship. They keep them in good running condition and care for them when they malfunction.”

Anders forced himself to cheer up, continuing the mending of the man under him, wracking his brain to come up with nonsense he could babble about, “Isabela told me a bit about ships the other day. Mind you, she was far into the cups, so I didn’t catch everything she said, but it was… interesting. She related ships to lovers. That they need care and attention. That you need to listen to what they tell you. I’m not terribly keen on ships, with the enclosed spaces… but I thought it was remarkably similar to what I do. Healing, that is. I need to listen to my patients, care for them… To mend wounds isn’t always physical.” 

Fenris gently nudged him, “Please go on. Please distract me?”

Anders looked at him and nodded, “Right. A story from my childhood!”

After everyone (Not including Fenris and Anders) helped dock the ship, they waited. Loitering on deck and playing a few hands of cards. Varric and Hawke busied themselves finding food in the form of cheeses, meats, bread and fruits. Hawke prepared a plate and went below decks, heading to the light source. Anders had apparently moved Fenris from the steel table to one of the lush bedrooms. Hawke walked in quietly, smiling at both as they looked up. Anders turned back to Fenris and with a light blush, finished his story.

“Karl found me in the well later that night, and from then on promised to aid me in my hairbrained schemes.”

Fenris gave Anders a soft look and quietly rumbled, “Clearly successful.”

“Ah. Well, yes. Eventually for me… You were present when we reunited.”

Hawke braced for conflict he was sure was inevitable and when Fenris reached for Anders, Hawke stepped forward only to be brought up short when the elf simply squeezed Anders’ hand.

“I… I am sorry for what happened to your lover, Anders.”

Anders looked about as surprised as Hawke, “I never thought… thank you.”

Hawke felt distinctly out of place and gently set the tray down, inadvertently drawing two sets of eyes his way. He offered a shy smile and stepped back, “We found food and I thought you two may be hungry. I’m glad to see the resident grump back in one piece.”

Anders winced, but Fenris nodded, “Glad to be back in once piece. Are we docked?”

“Yeah. But take your time. Isabela knows the dock workers and they’re allowing us to be docked as long as we need. Apparently Izzy already has plans for the ship.”

“Mmm, good. I think I’ll raid the wine cellar before leaving.”

The healer seated next to him shook his head, brows furrowing, “Absolutely not. No hard work. No heavy lifting, no fitness of any sort. Doctor’s orders.”

Hawke nudged Anders, “Fitness of any sort? Fenris isn’t one to lift weights.”

“Not weights. Andraste’s tits you know what I mean!”

When met with two clueless gazes, one genuine, accompanied by an adorable twitch of long ears, and the other mischievous Anders huffed and turned to the man on the bed, “No sex.”

Hawke guffawed and clapped the mage on the back and, turning to the door, started belting out Isabela’s favorite racey sea shanty.

After their boisterous leader had gotten far enough away to allow for a normal level of speech, Fenris peered at Anders,

“No sex. With whom would I have sex with?”

Anders raised an eyebrow, then pointedly looked down the hall, in the direction of the sea shanty, making Fenris hum. The healer looked back to Fenris with a puzzled look, 

“Hmm?”

“Oh please. You’re not serious.” Anders remained silent and Fenris closed his eyes, “Hawke and I… no, that ended three years ago. I made a mistake and he moved on.”

“A mistake?”

“I walked out. I remembered things, but almost immediately forgot them and in my frustration, I left him. He is happily with Isabela now.”

“I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Only fair. You’ve kept me company with stories of your youth, I can allow a few of my own.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I needed to finish this. The chapter has been sitting in my docs for EVER and I finally just sucked it up and finished. The work isn't horribly popular, but I wanted it complete.
> 
> Hawke and Fen have a heart to heart.
> 
> It's short. I might add more later. 
> 
> For now, Thanks for reading, friends.

Fenris frowned at the large dog at his feet. The beast was a great space heater, but never had the manners to fart away from polite company. Fenris nudged at his back, trying to push the creature away so he could stand and escape the stench.

The dog didn’t budge.

“Anchovy, I swear to whatever god you believe in, if you don’t move I’ll tell Hawke you’re raiding the larder at night.”

As if he could understand, Anchovy glared at Fenris over his massive shoulder and got up, moving closer to the fireplace. Fenris laughed to himself and stood, grabbing his empty mug and walking to the kitchen. He nodded his greeting to Orana and made himself a new cup of tea. She learned fairly early on that he didn’t like people waiting on him. They were both slaves, but she still worked in servitude.

 _I guess I do too._ Fenris thought

His ears twitched as the front door creaked open and he resisted the urge to greet Hawke as he walked in. Ever since the event on the ship, he’d been living at the Hawke estate. Nearly two months had passed, and Fenris still refused to go back to his mansion. Nothing good waited for him there. His false sense of security was shattered.

Fenris finished preparing a second cup of tea, expecting Hawke to enter and grab every scrap of food in eyesight. The man never entered. Fenris heard his heavy steps up the stairs and into his room. Shrugging to himself, Fenris grabbed a tray and lined it with food; bread, meats, cheeses, a few figs he managed to barter off a travelling merchant, and the two cups of tea.

With his bounty in tow, Fenris approached Hawke’s room, gently nudging the door open, “Hawke?”

His muffled voice came from the bed, “Hey, Fen.”

Fenris laughed through his nose and perched on the edge of the bed, next to the fully armored mage. 

“You’re getting blood on your sheets.”

Hawke sat up to shoot Fenris an irritated look, who responded with a shrug and offered the man some tea.

Hawke took it and drank deeply, “Mmm, Fenris, when did you learn how to make tea?”

“I’ve always known how to make tea. It’s not exactly difficult.”

Hawke watched Fenris, a weariness set to his eyes and Fenris huffed, “Yes, Hawke?”

“Are you doing better?”

“Yes, Hawke.”

“Don’t patronize me.”

Fenris grinned and looked at him, “Yes, Hawke.”

Fenris laughed as Hawke smacked his face with a pillow, nearly upending the tray.

“I’m serious, Fenris. We’re all worried about you. I’ve been working with Varric and Anders to figure out how Danarius found you… Or rather, how he’d known you’d be coming home late, exhausted, and alone.”

“And?”

“Nothing. Not a single goddamn hint. We have suspicions, but nothing more. Isabela is gone. All her stuff is missing and... well, the timing is odd to say the least.”

Fenris looked down at his hands, “You suspect she sold me out?”

“Maybe not on purpose, but she left us no note, so no way to know for sure.”

“Not even a note for you? Weren’t you two..?”

Hawke stared at him, “That’s what people thought? No, we flirted, but Fenris, I’ve never stopped waiting for you.”

“I… You…” Fenris looked off into the distance, frowning, recounting every interaction he’d seen the two of them have. Isabela gripping Hawke’s ass, Isabela flirtatiously agreeing with Zevran to have a threesome, Isabela loudly yelling to the Hanged Man that she and Hawke fucked.

“It was all Isabela.”

Hawke watched Fenris, “I told you I would wait…”

“But on the ship, your joke…”

“About no heavy activity? A misfired joke. I was scared for you and I turn into an idiot when I’m scared.”

Fenris snorted, “You’re always an idiot.”

“I’m also always scared.” Hawke turned away, looking down at his hands

"Of what, Hawke?" Fenris' voice was soft.

"Of everything. Losing you, losing my brother, really any more of my friends… I didn't want to be Champion. It seems like everything I touch…."

"Stop. Hawke- Garrett, you can't blame yourself for everything. I know it's easy, but think of all the good you've done. You saved me multiple times, saved Anders, against my better judgement." Hawke snorted out a laugh and Fenris continued, "You saved Isabela, Aveline, Varric, Carver, those slaves, hell, the entire city of Kirkwall."

"Please stop?"

Fenris glared at him, "All in saying is," he turned and gently took Hawke's hands into his own, "Don't stop yourself from feeling. But don't get consumed."

Hawke was silent for a while, "Damn, Fen… if I didn't know any better, I'd say-"

Fenris cut him off, "You know I never stopped. I ran away and I have regretted that moment every day since."

"Can we start over?" Hawke, knowingly or not, pulled on his most pitiful puppy face.

"You're a pest."


End file.
